How To Live in a Digital World and Not Lose Your Soul

LatinX showed up to Wisdom 2.0 last weekend – which is a conference held in San Francisco where over 2,500 people from over 24 countries show up and explore how to advance as human beings.

The mission is to address the great challenge of our age: to not only live connected to one another through technology, but to do so in ways that are beneficial to our own well-being, effective in our work, and useful to the world.

Chelsea Handler showed up with the therapist who changed her life, Dan Siegel, a long time veteran of the conference. Chelsea shared vulnerable insight into why she dropped her E! show and is now working on a Netflix documentary about white privilege, a platform where she plans to use her privilege to educate people on how to be an ally and advocate to any group that is marginalized in this country.

Chelsea Handler at Wisdom 2.0

Have you ever used the app Calm? The woman who’s voice you hear every day on the app (Tamara Levitt) lead us in meditation (IRL) and shared her own journey of how meditation and mindfulness has made her a student not a teacher of important tools that help clear the mind and rid anxiety.

Yung Pueblo (Diego Perez), an insta-famous meditator writer and speaker, read one of his quotes aloud.

“True power is living the realization that you are your own healer, hero and leader.”

We were able to ask Arturo, Director of Engineering at Facebook, a few questions about just that following a communication breakout session he led.

LatinX : How important are communication tools to building successful businesses and platforms? Arturo: It’s the most important thing.

LatinX: How do you see relationships IRL vs. relationships on social networks?Arturo: Social networks work best when we connect with each other. I think the challenge is to show up in a way that is authentic and vulnerable.

LatinX: What do you see in the future for how social platforms will connect us as a global community? Arturo: I think as much as people who are using the platform can learn the best of community, communication and connection and can help facilitate that – we will bring out the best in what those platforms can offer.

LatinX: How do conversations like the ones you shape here at Wisdom 2.0 impact your ability to build meaningful technology? Arturo: Learning about how we can relate to each other, creating tools to better understand each other, listening to underrepresented people, and creating environments that allow people to be authentic and have integrity to their own values are principles for building a good work place. I think those are things we need to learn about and think about in the products that we build, for the people that we serve. We find that the things in the product that work well for communities are also essential for me as a parent, and as a human and a friend.

Political leaders like David Simas, from the Obama Foundation, also led conversations around how to be a mindful leader. Stirring discussions were facilitated by Konda Mason, co-founder of Impact Hub Oakland, with subjects like technology and democracy and how to map a moral future. The conversation turned into how we could give access to more people to conferences like this one to people that can’t afford it and how we could make sure underrepresented people would be on stage and in the audience in the future. The context of power surfaced and someone stood up compelled to read a quote by MLK Jr. Applause broke out as people’s minds and hearts opened.

Power, properly understood, is the ability to achieve purpose. It is the strength required to bring about social, political or economic changes. In this sense power is not only desirable but necessary in order to implement the demands of love and justice. One of the greatest problems of history is that the concept of love and power are usually contrasted as polar opposites. Love is identified with a resignation of power and power with a denial of love. What is needed is a realization that power without love is reckless and abusive and that love without power is sentimental and anemic. Power at its best is love implementing the demands of justice. Justice at its best is love correcting everything that stands against love.